


Blind Faith

by nra40



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationship, M/M, Pre-Movie, Short, faith - Freeform, idk how to tag i havnt written anything in years, light Violence, newly blind chirrut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 06:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nra40/pseuds/nra40
Summary: Chirrut Îmwe is a young man, and a Guardian of the Whills. The Holy City of Jedha has not been unaffected by the war, and Chirrut was blinded while doing his duty protecting the people in the temple during a riot. He's in a tough spot, emotionally and spiritually, but he's never let little things like 'existential breakdown' prevent him from getting into trouble before...





	

His mother had been an initiate - a washout. She’d moved on to the Agricorps, and was eventually stationed - moved up to a high rank - on Jedha, at the temple there. She left the corp when she fell in love with a pilgrim, not a force user, but devout. A true believer. She’d been happy. **  
**

He remembers wondering, as a child, how it was she didn’t resent the Jedi for sending her away. Especially after he was tested, and found lacking in that mysterious connection to the force required to become a Jedi Knight. It wasn’t until many years later he realized the full depth of what the Jedi Knights give up, and realized that he was also grateful and glad that had not been his path (even regardless of the other realities - that had he been chosen he would have been hunted down and slaughtered like all of the other Jedi…) ** **  
****

It never feels like he imagined the Force would feel like, as a child: significant and sublime. Instead, it is only that he hears the bolt of the blaster, or smells the sweat of the ruffian throwing the punch, or feels the rush of air before the clubs lands, and has enough luck and quickness to get out of the way. It is only in retrospect, when he is alive and the many who outnumbered and outgunned him are not that he thinks there must be more to it than luck and training - he is often not just fighting local toughs after all, the Empire’s troops are well trained. ** **  
****

Baze scoffs, and reminds him of how long it took him to re-learn the steps of Jedha, that it was his dedication to training that gave him the abilities he has now, not some dubious divine interference. Reminds him of the mundane effort that goes into their skills, and not to forget gratitude to real individuals who have helped them along their path, instead of just offering thanks to some omnipotent Force. ** **  
****

* * *

 

He was blind. He was blind and it was hard - he stumbled on paths he had run down every day of his life - fell down stairs he had casually vaulted only weeks before. It did not help that tensions were so high. Many people besides him had been injured in the riots - many had died. Even without a direct presence, the Separatists were doing damage. It was difficult to maintain serenity in the midst of the chaos, and in the midst of the frustration he personally felt. He was supposed to be a Guardian - how was he supposed to fulfill his duty to protect those who seek wisdom like this? He was no legendary Jedi, to see through the Force - he could claim no special connection with the divine power that flowed through all things in the Universe, had no ability to fling things through the air by willing it so, or predict the future. He was simply a man - well trained, but now that seemed so useless.

He was lonesome, too. His… well, his something, was off planet. He did not like how often Baze volunteered for distant missions, but he understood. However, it was hard to let go of the anger he felt - if Baze had been here… It was unfair. The riots had been a complete surprise. There was no way Baze could have known. There was still no telling how long it would be until Baze heard about them - news traveled strangely, thanks to the war. And Baze would yell at him now - walking around a city rife with tension when he can’t do the least thing to protect himself. And he’d be right too, given that Chirrut was about to do something very stupid. ** **  
****

“Hand over your credits! Hand ‘em over or you’ll regret it.” ** **  
****

The rough voice came from down an alley Chirrut knew as a hotspot for unsavory acts. It seemed one of the gangs of ruffians was taking advantage of the unrest to harass someone.

Chirrut wasn’t sure what he was going to do - blind as he was - but he stepped into the alley. He could not allow this to occur unchallenged, the very idea went against everything he stood for as a Guardian. Perhaps he could bluff them - it had happened before, that the mere suggestion of opposition drove petty criminals off. ** **  
****

“I suggest you seek credits elsewhere - should you continue this course of action, it is you who will regret it.” ** **  
****

Chirrut felt the attention of the group settle on him. He wondered how many there were. One of the more common temple mantras passed through his mind: “I am one with the Force; the Force is with me.” ** **  
****

Another voice spoke, it sounded like a woman, and older - unfortunate. Not just a group of youths then, but actual seasoned criminals. ** **  
****

“And how are you going to stop us? You’re blind! Take him out boys, but make sure not to let go of the Twi'lek.” ** **  
****

One last try at intimidation. ** **  
****

“I am a Guardian of the Whills, I recommend choosing another course of action.”

Of course, it didn’t work.

Three people rushed towards him - he could tell by their footsteps. He heard the closest plant his foot and could practically see it in his head, the number of fights he’d been in - it was complete instinct to dodge the punch he knew was coming. ** **  
****

The tough’s punch whistled past his ear. He would have blinked in shock, had his eyes not been bandaged. Luckily he felt the wind from the kick of a second tough, and his instinctual block knocked him out of his surprise. He tugged on the leg he had caught and followed up with an elbow to the temple of the attacker - catching the tough by surprise and knocking that one out of the fight. The first attacker made another punch - Chirrut captured the arm and went to sweep the leg - throwing the first attacker into the third. ****  
****

He heard yells from further down the alley, the woman who had spoken cursing - and the charge of a blaster. He’d never realized how loud that sound was. He didn’t know if he’d be able to dodge a blaster - the mantra went through his head again - he heard a blaster shot and braced for pain - ** **  
****

“And just what are you doing wandering around when you’re supposed to be on bedrest? Healer Hrock-taw is going to skin you alive.”

“Baze! Healer Hrock-taw will understand; one must listen to the will of the Force after all. It guides as well as protects.”

“The Force ‘guided’ you straight into an armed robbery! It’s me doing all the ‘protecting’ around here!”

“I am one with the Force; the Force is with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahahaha it's been literally years since I wrote anything. This was written for Jedifest Rouge Robin 2017. I tried (via wookiepedia and whatnot) to make the timeline make some amount of sense, but my knowledge base of anything outside of the movies and KOTOR/SWTOR games is... deeply spotty, so!  
> I love Chirrut in the movie, and one of the things I really /really/ love is that Chirrut is not Force Sensitive. I know that a lot of people write about him and/or Baze as Force sensitive, just untrained, and that's totally cool ~ but to me it's really awesome to see a character with such solid faith and none of the fancy magic proof that Jedi get. Like - there is such a difference between believing in a Force that suffuses the galaxy that is wonderful and good and protects people, despite having no solid proof that it's actually there; and believing in /the literal space magic you can literally do in a repeatable fashion/. Those are just... two completely different things.  
> I also really liked the idea that Chirrut's faith was something that he came into - something that he had to sort of actively accept and seek out, not just a default that he never questioned. So I figured I'd write that.  
> Anyway - I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> EDIT - I realized I left a line in the intro from before I had the timeline better sorted, I originally thought Chirrut and Baze were younger then they actually are - Chirrut and Baze are ~ 50 at the time of Rogue 1 which means they were in their early 20s at the rise of the empire - Chirrut would not have been a child when the younglings at the temple were killed, he would have been one of the Jedi killed by their clones :(

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Blind Faith](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10940787) by [engmaresh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/engmaresh/pseuds/engmaresh)




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